


Return to Heroics

by TheSimplestWriter



Category: Danny Phantom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Adorable Midoriya Izuku, Angry Bakugou Katsuki, Crossover, Dan becomes a hero, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-07-06 22:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15895485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSimplestWriter/pseuds/TheSimplestWriter
Summary: He was supposed to be inevitable. Instead, his fourteen year-old self kicked his ass into a thermos. That meddling time ghost definitely has something in store for him. But will he become a hero? Or will he go back to being a villain? Maybe going back to school might teach him a few things. Dan Phantom will be... the number one hero? Not in a million years.





	1. Hero Rule 1: Adapt

**Hero Rule 1: Adjust**

Today.

Today, the thermos wall was going to give out and he would finally be free. As he continued to wail on the thinning wall of the metal container, his glowing, red eyes burned with determination. A week? Months? Only those outside of this hellhole really knew how long he had been stuck in here. The fact that his weak, half-human self had beaten him and forced into the thermos and, knowing Clockwork, had his family saved from the imminent explosion infuriated the ghost. The first thing he was going to do when he was out of this blasted thermos was punch Clockwork in his smug face, at least that's he would try to do before that meddling ghost paused time and erased him from time itself. Just thinking about his whole situation with his younger self made him dig his fists farther into the steel. Of course, he always told himself every time he would start pounding on the container's walls that it would be this time that he would break out and enact his revenge. Whenever he wasn't taking his never-ending anger out on the steel surrounding him, he'd be imagining himself destroying his bratty, younger version and the time-controlling ghost. Still, he pictured Clockwork's face in front of the deep dent. With each thought came a punch: that dumb, stupid, piece of s-

_Riiipppp._

Dan Phantom ignored the fact that he was embarrassingly sprawled out on the floor in favor of savoring the new, open space around him. He quickly waved his monochrome cape off of his face. Although the floating gears and clocks reminded him that he was in the meddling ghost's home, it was better than staring at the barely visible gray of the Fenton thermos. Dan quickly got off the floor and lit his fists with green ectoplasm, but the only thing he heard around him was the ticking of the endless floating clocks. He had expected Clockwork to appear behind him at any moment, pause time, and say some snarky jab before wishing him out of existence, but… nothing.

"Clockwork! I know you're here!" he growled. His black gloves squeaked with how tightly he clenched his hands. On the floor below laid the broken thermos, a gaping hole where Dan had punched his way out of. He ground his foot into the container, snapping it in two. The ghost took another few steps before flying out of the room through one of the many halls. In the maze of the clocktower, Dan flew carefully, looking around for the other ghost or for an exit. Green, swirling portals to different timelines passed by him as he went further into or out of the tower. Turned out he was heading further into the tower as he arrived into a central room, with a large, glowing screen framed with gears in the middle of the room. Dan huffed as he landed on the ground in front of the portal. At least if Clockwork was going to try and erase him, Dan could possibly escape into whatever timeline was through the screen.

But as he landed, the screen flickered from swirling green to a moving scene. A modern city with people and cars filling it. But as he looked longer, Dan could see some odd things that stood out. Some people were normal, but a majority had some weird features. Those with blue skin, fur, horns were walking the streets without a care in the world. Parents holding children with wings and claws were on their way to school. Even then, above the "common" people, costumed ones raced through the roads. Like those from comic books, multiple spandex-wearing superheroes dotted the scene, as if they were ready to take on petty crimes and accidents. Dan leaned in close and narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand what was going on in the screen, nose nearly touching it. "What the-"

"Have fun."

"Clockwork?!" Dan whipped around, his flaming hair flaring as the time ghost surprised him. Even then, he was only able to catch a glimpse of the smirking, blue face before he was shoved through the portal. _You son of a-_

When he woke up, Dan had a number of expletives to say to the meddling ghost. The ghost groaned as he propped himself up with his arms. His trail of curses ground to a halt by his unfamiliar surroundings. Being in a dirty alleyway at night in the unknown city wasn't exactly where he wanted to be. As he stood, his balance shifted, almost making him topple over. As Dan looked at his body at the unexpected shift, he let loose a shout of surprise. Instead of his twenty-four-year-old muscled body, skinny arms and legs glared back at him. A broken piece of mirror on the floor exposed his youthful face and surprised expression right back at him. No facial hair, no white, flaming ponytail, just big, round, red eyes staring back at him. He looked just as he did back when he was first… _created_. Dan growled.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here, boys. A hero-wanna-be." A sleazy voice sounded from behind Dan. The ghost turned around to meet the oddest group of thugs he had ever seen.

The one that spoke was _long,_ to put it mildly. Even as he was hunched over, the guy was probably eight feet tall, with his legs and arms proportioned to match, but he was built like a stick. Another looked like a writhing mass of dark green vines, in fact, one wouldn't know he was a person if not for the eyes and feet poking out of the foliage. The last one behind them was a literal troll; dumb-looking but built like a truck.

"Tell ya what, give us your money and anything else that might make us happy, and we'll let you off without a scratch. Then we'll let you keep playing 'hero'," the lanky one spoke again. All three of them smirked at the ghost (or at least he guessed with the one covered in vines).

They didn't even mention any of his own odd features. Dan didn't see any fear or revulsion about his appearance. Instead, it was only a look of a thug ready to wail on a brat. A different situation, but one he could definitely work with. Faced with a bunch of idiots thinking that they could actually beat him in a fight, Dan was not going to miss this opportunity to let out his anger. And he had a _lot_ of anger after being in a tiny confined space for who knows how long. The ghost let loose a wicked smirk and lit a fist with green energy, making the trio lose a bit of confidence. "How about this? I beat the crap out of you three, and one of you is going to tell me what I want to know."

"You little shit! We'll-" A green fist in his face launched him into one of the walls of the alley before the skinny one even finished his sentence. Dan floated slighted off the asphalt and turned to the other two. A cock smirk invited them to make their moves. The troll look-alike charged at him with a roar while the bundle of vines moved farther back and fired off some sharp leaves and thorns. Dan snarled as he fired off ecto-energy to counter the floral projectiles aimed at him. Leaves burned up as they each met a glowing blob of ectoplasm.

"You, little _punk_!" The muscle of the group was almost upon him, winding up a giant fist to slam the ghost into the ground. Too slow. But the leaves were starting to be a nuisance. Might as well take care of the long-range before going for the wall of muscle. The phantom turned intangible, flying through the troll look-alike in front of him and going for the green thug in the back. When the living bush noticed the translucent shape of Dan, he let out a cry of panic and let off another round of projectiles.

Obviously, it wasn't the best plan with Dan still intangible. The leaves and thorns that were planned for the phantom flew right through the ghost and instead stabbed right into his troll teammate. Dan heard the roar of pain behind him. The ghost grabbed the living bush by a vine and launched him into the body of muscle. The two cried out as they collided and fell backwards. Dan followed up with a ghost ray. Dan huffed when the smoke cleared. Instead of two corpses, the buffoons were now knocked out in the middle of the alley. Damn, so he really had lost those ten years of his growth.

He floated over to their lanky leader, dazed and against the wall like he had left him. The ghost grabbed him by the throat and hoisted the would-be robber farther up the wall so that his feet didn't touch the ground. Dan lifted a glowing green hand to the thug's face. "Now then, you're going to answer some questions I have, and if your answers aren't to my liking, you can kiss your face goodbye."

"Al-alright, I'll talk! Just- just don't hurt me, man!"

"What's up with people around here? Is it normal for you all to have some mutation or something?"

The thug lost some fear in his eyes in exchange for confusion. "You mean our quirks? What are you talking about, dude? You grow up under a rock or somethin'?"

Dan tightened his grip on the man's throat and brought the glowing hand closer to his face, making him cry out as the green energy singed his face. "Your job is to answer my questions, not ask them." As he withdrew his hand, the man against the wall rapidly nodded his head. "Do most people have quirks?"

"Y- yea, man. Last time I checked, only twenty percent of the world's population don't have quirks."

"And what's with the costumed ones? Heroes?"

The thug looked down at Dan's own jumpsuit but didn't question it. Good decision. "Yea, but you have to get a license to become a hero. Being a vigilante is illegal, and if you use your quirk for crimes, you're a villain."

"Tch." Dan suddenly slammed the lanky man against the wall, knocking his head against it to make sure the thug was passed out. He floated back down to the ground. Clockwork definitely intended for him to land in such a timeline, no, _world._ This place was completely different from his own. Instead of ghosts making a mess, powered-up humans ran around. _But now what?_ Dan didn't exactly have a place to camp out. Before in his original timeline, he flew back to his human half's home to use the ghost portal and camped out in there. Grabbing the air in front of him and pulling at his ghostly core to make a portal, he swiped down. No green, swirling portal formed. Nothing.

But why did Clockwork send him to this world in the first place? Was this supposed to be his last stand? His guess was a bit of a stretch, but all he could gather was either get erased or get taken down by the heroes of this the world. Destroying his own world and timeline had been devastatingly easy. With no widespread anti-ghost artillery, it was simply a game of how many buildings he could destroy before getting bored. Here, there were superpowered humans who were literally _tested_ to see if they could be a hero or not. If he was going to get erased from the timeline whenever he accomplished whatever Clockwork might have planned (because when _didn't_ the time ghost have a plan in place), Dan might as destroy as much as he could. He charged up his already lit fist, ready to blast a hole straight through the twig-like man. _Might as well start off with these three._

A roar sounded off behind him. Dan turned around to see a giant fist falling towards him. The troll guy had woken up and was in position to take the ghost out. Just as Dan was about to turn intangible, a gray scarf wound around the giant fist and yanked it back. The giant mound of muscle toppled backward as more gray strips bounded him and moved him away from Dan. A pale hand rose behind the thug and did a quick chop to the meaty neck, rendering the would-be robber unconscious.

"Being a vigilante is a criminal offense, you know." The scruffy looking man said as he bound the hands of the two downed thugs. A loose, black jumpsuit, gray scarf, and dull golden goggles marked him as a hero.

"Is self-defense a crime?"

"In that outfit and this time of night? Yeah, it is."

The man passed by Dan to cuff the lanky man against the wall. No comment about his green skin or flaming hair at all, just like the three before. If his own appearance wasn't a point of conversation, Dan had to wonder what the limits of these "quirks" were. The man whipped out a phone. Probably to call the cops, and if what the hero said about him taking down the thugs being illegal, Dan wasn't sticking around.

"Fine, I'll get out of your way then." Dan was ready to turn invisible and fly away, but the moment his feet left the pavement in a little hop, he _couldn't_. "What the fuck?!"

Gray bands wound around Dan, and he couldn't even turn intangible to escape. None of his powers would respond, suddenly locked away and suppressed. Instead of being weightless like a ghost, his body sunk back down to the ground. Dan fought against the scarf around him, even his super strength had left him. The ghost twirled to face the scruffy-looking hero, who's black hair was now floating along with sections of the scarf, ready to bind him even further. It had to be this guy's "quirk". Dan continued to struggle. "What are you doing?"

"Not letting you continue to run around the city dressed like that. You're Daniel Fenton, right?" The man walked closer with his phone in hand, still looking straight at him.

"Who- how do you know that name?!" Dan snarled. He hadn't been called that since, well, since he had become a full ghost. After that, he had become "Phantom". Even the name "Dan" wasn't something anyone else had used when referring to himself.

The hero held up the glowing screen. Dan was speechless as his current face stared back at him in a profile picture. Beside the picture was basic identification information; eye color, height, age, and with "Daniel Fenton" at the top in bold. _How the hell…_ Only that meddlesome, time ghost could've done this. The phantom was so shocked that he didn't even notice he was still being carried along by the hero. After Dan had snapped out of his stupor, he shouted in rage and started his struggle anew, not even noticing his powers return to him.

Of course, this alerted the hero to start floating his hair and shut down his means of escaping through intangibility. "You're lucky I'm willing to let you off with a warning, only since you saved me a bit of trouble with those thugs."

"Who the hell even are you anyways? And where are you taking me?!"

"Name's Eraserhead, pro hero. I know you're from America, but did you really move in so recently that you don't even recognize your own place? It's listed as your current address."

"Wha…" _What kind of name is that?!_

"Listen, don't let me catch you out there with that get-up again, or else I'll take you in for vigilantism." And just like that, the gray scarf receded and his powers return. Dan was about to snark back as he turned to the scruffy man, but he was already leaping away to his next crime scene.

"Psh, whatever." Dan turned around to the door of his apparent apartment. He tried the doorknob. Locked. Dan just rolled his eyes and floated through the door. Turning on the lights inside, he saw that the apartment was small and sparsely decorated. A kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom fit inside the one-floor space. The fridge and cabinets were somehow already stocked with some food. Plain clothes in black or white filled the drawers in his bedroom. _How the hell is this place even mine?_ As he passed by a table, he noticed a pile of papers out of place. On top of the stack, a very familiar medallion and note laid on top.

Dan grabbed Clockwork's medallion and wound up to throw it against the wall but stopped short. He stopped short and slammed it back down on the countertop. Throwing it and damaging the wall wasn't going to do him any good. Shuffling through the papers, Dan could see his bank information, school transcripts, and identification papers. School books laid below the loose papers. _U.A. Exam Prep_ and _Intro to Heroics_. Finally, he picked up the neatly folded note that would possibly (not likely) explain Clockwork's reasoning.

_Dear Daniel_ , he immediately scowled.

_I hope you enjoy your time here in this new timeline. As you are wondering what exactly I have planned for you at this time, I'm afraid that is something you will have to figure out yourself. I've started to push you in the right direction by giving you all your needed documents and allowance. No need to thank me._ Dan actually snorted at this. "As if I'd ever thank you, you meddlesome ghost."

_As you have heard, heroes require licenses to perform heroic acts. To obtain a license, one must attend and complete education at a school that has a hero course. You will complete this course._

"Are you kidding me?!"

_You know what will happen if you try to turn rogue or attempt to flunk out of school. I've even handled signing you up for the entrance exam at U.A. High School. The exam is in two months, so prepare to study up. Although I do admit I have an ulterior motive, the Daniel that you faced before believes in second chances and I've decided to give you the same opportunity. Don't mess it up. Who knows? Maybe you'll actually like your time here. Actually, I do know whether or not you'll like it._

_Sincerely,_

_CW_

Dan scrunch up the note in his fist. He threw the note in a nearby trash can and turned off the lights. As soon as he entered his room, he threw himself onto the bed without making use of any of the new clothes provided. Dan shut his eyes and huffed out, "Fuck you, Clockwork."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, hi! Welcome! So I guess this is my first fan fiction that I plan to continue and finish. I'm kind of sad to see the lack of Danny Phantom and My Hero Academia crossovers, even with Danny as the main character. I just thought it'd be an even better fic if I were to write my favorite character, Dan Phantom/Dark Danny :) It's such a pet peeve of mine to see stories listed under Dan Phantom when in reality it's just Danny and/or Pitch Pearl. I just need more buff, evil, 24-year-old Phantoms! I know it's pretty hard to write redemption fics right but I'll definitely try my best.
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcomed! Feel free to PM me as well!
> 
> I also want to be clear about my updates. I will definitely be inconsistent, but I will definitely try my damn hardest to update once a month. Surprisingly for some, I do have a life outside of fanfiction as a college student. If I don't update, light a fire under my ass by writing well-written reviews. Nothing motivates me more than reading some reviews ;)


	2. Hero Rule 2: Eliminate

**Hero Rule 2: Eliminate**

Dan looked up at the golden emblem at the top of the blue gate of U.A High School. The gate was opened with a sign notifying students they were at the right place to take the entrance exam. Other students rush in around him, not wanting to be late as it neared the 9:30 deadline. Two months of studying the laws of heroics and other school subjects led up to this moment. To be honest, the only time he left the apartment was to stop by the nearby convenience store and pick up take out. Ghost or not, the noodles here were worth eating. The two months left him a lot of free time which was usually spent skimming the books that Clockwork had given him. Even if he didn't read into the finer details of each regulation, the books had been helpful in acquainting himself with the laws pertaining to quirks and heroes. Usually, he had the TV going on in the background. Sometimes he'd actually pay attention to the television long enough to catch some news, but often it just featured the debut of some new hero. He would turn the TV off by then.

He scratched at the loose, black long-sleeve, still not used to being out of his jumpsuit. He still wasn't comfortable in short sleeves after being dressed in the jumpsuit for ten years. Luckily the February weather, no one batted an eye. Dan adjusted the backpack which contained his change of clothes for the practical exam. He still had five minutes to check in and find his seat for the written part of the exam. As the stream of jogging students lessened, Dan starting walking towards the doors.

"Heeyy! Look out!" A girl shouted out behind him. Before she could bowl him over, the ghost activated his intangibility. The girl fell through him, continued to stumble, and almost planted into the ground but managed saved herself at the last second. Dan became tangible once more after she moved completely through him.

If Dan didn't know that there were no other ghosts here, he would've guessed that she was one. Her hair and skin were completely pink with yellow horns peeking out from her hair. The moment she regained her balance, she twisted around to face him. Eyes with yellow irises and black sclera stared at him in irritation as she put her hands on her hips. "That was rude! Were you really going to let me fall?"

Dan shoved his hands into his black pants. He continued forward, maneuvering around the pink girl. "Wasn't my problem."

As he continued his lax pace, the girl ran past him. With his enhanced hearing, he heard her mutter, "Probably a management examinee…"

' _I wish.'_ Dan would've preferred anything other than testing into the department of heroes, but his self-preservation instincts prevented that. He approached a table with a woman behind the desk. From here, the ghost received an exam ticket with the information of where to go for his written and practical test. Another couple of twists and turns of repetitive school hallways later, he arrived at the classroom. Dan was obviously the last one to arrive as only one seat was still empty. As soon as he had settled into his seat, a bell chimed.

The test proctor went through the standard speech, "don't cheat", "do your best", and other things that Dan had no interest in paying attention to. After finishing his written test, he told to gather in a large lecture hall for further information about the practical exam. "Alright, since there aren't any questions," The lady looked at the clock on the wall. "You may begin."

Dan flipped over the booklet on the desk. The first question was easy but wordy. Dan let out a breath and got to work. This was going to be a long two hours.

— RtH —

The phantom continued to lounge as the last test takers finally came into the lecture hall. Dan had finished around the same time as the majority of the examinees, most of which had grouped up with their friends to talk about how they thought they did on the written portion. Without anyone to speak to, the ghost started to observe the many quirks around the room. Most of the students didn't have anything special physical features, other than some unnatural hair colors. His eyes were drawn to the ones with extra appendages, neon skin, or some other weird feature (pretty sure he saw some guy with a bird's head in the second row). Even with all the distinct characters, Dan was pretty sure he was still one of the few with extreme changes. With white fire as hair, pale green skin, and glowing red eyes, he could still feel a good number of eyes on his person.

The chair next to him was suddenly pulled out, and the screeching against the floor made his pointed ears twitch. In the short time that he wasn't glaring at people who attempted to sit next to him, another teen plopped down and turned to him with a grin. He was fairly plain-looking, with black hair and black eyes. "Hey, how's it going?" He raised an arm, drawing Dan's attention to his oddly circular elbows. "I was in your written exam room. How do you think you did? Name's Sero Hanta, by the way."

Dan continued to lean back in his chair, arms crossed against his chest. Although not as intimidating as before without his muscular body, he definitely conveyed that he wasn't in any mood to talk. With his head still facing the center of the room, he gave Sero a side-eye look.

Still, the glare didn't put off the grinning teen, making Dan groan internally. He continued on as if Dan was participating in the conversation. "Man, I think I might have bombed the written exam, to be honest, some of those questions were really tricky! I'm really hoping that the practical exam will save me." The Japanese leaned further in, but Dan balled a fist, ready to make sure there was _more_ than enough space between them. "I'm really interested about your quirk, though! See, mine is that I have tape dispensers in my elbows, but I can't guess what yours is. Is it fire-based? I'm just guessing because of your hair and all. Or is it more-"

Before Dan could cave in the other boy's mouth, the lights and screen of the room along with another annoying voice made itself known. "For all you test takers tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody, say 'Hey'!" The ghost looked down to the center of the room where a man stood. The best way Dan could describe the man was that he looked like a cockatoo with his bright blond hair sweeping upwards. The guy's voice could also be comparable to the screeching of the bird. President Mic, a fitting name for the voice quirk hero.

Of course, no examinee followed the teacher's embarrassing command. The crowd was dead silent. _Great, a moron as a teacher and a hero_.

"… What a response. Then I'll quickly present to you the rundown of the practical exam!" And with that, the slideshow was underway. Dan understood the basics already from the printout; destroy as many robots as you can. As they went up in difficulty in points, the ghost planned to skip over the 1-pointers and jump straight to 2's and 3's.

Somehow this wasn't understood by some nerd who was quick to point out there were four types of robots not three. Not like it mattered anyway, an extra robot wasn't going to change the whole structure of the practical exam. In addition to pointing out the missing information about the last robot, the nerd also scolded some other examinee behind him. Why he had to point it out to the whole room, Dan didn't know nor care.

As that whole exchange was going on, Sero bothered him once more. "Pst. What arena are you in?"

Dan actually hadn't bothered to check up until this point. The ghost rolled his eyes at the teen beside him and reached into his pocket for the crumpled ticket. "Battle Center F" was written.

"Dang, I'm in Battle Center G." Sero was leaning over to read his ticket. When the teen noticed Dan had narrowed his eyes even further, he retreated out of the ghost's personal space. "Guess I won't be able to see you in action then. Hey, but your name's Fenton Daniel, are you from the United States then?"

"It's Dan." He automatically corrected just as a "Plus Ultra!" came from President Mic. As everyone else was starting to get up and leave to the buses, Dan was quick to move away from the nosy student, allowing the crowd to separate them. It would have been easy to turn invisible and intangible but doing so without warning in a crowd of people whose dreams were to enforce rules like "no public displays of quirk usage without a license" wasn't the best idea.

As he boarded the bus that would take him to Battle Center F and sat in the very back, the ghost quickly ran through the powers he had at his disposal. His basic ghost powers were more than enough to get rid of the robots. In his apartment, he had tested out the rest, as much as he could without ruining it. He could only produce one clone before his body started to grow another head with extra body parts. His Ghost Stinger had shorted out his remote control which he had used as a test subject. His Ghostly Wail was obviously out of the question to test back at his apartment. Now though…

Dan adjusted his white gloves as he approached the looming gate. He had taken the gloves and boots of his old outfit but switched out the jumpsuit for a plain black compression long-sleeve and long pants. The pants were baggier than he'd like to wear for a fight, but they would work. He looked up at the buildings peeking out of the walls encasing them. The school had to have a huge budget to build seven battle centers the size of a couple city blocks while having some on the side to make a nice cafeteria.

He turned into the chatter around him. Although it seemed that no one knew each other, the extroverts easily started conversations.

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the main building, startling Dan from his thoughts. "Okay, start!" President Mic shouted from the top of a tower. The doors opened in front of Dan. If that wasn't a clear sign to go, the ghost didn't know what was. He flew inside, causing a breeze to flow behind him and alerting the other examinees to his movement.

He heard shouts of surprise as they scrambled to follow the ghost into the battle center, along with comments about his sudden flight, most likely they had inferred that his quirk was fire-related, along with everyone else who took a glance at his hair.

The ghost flew down the main road, heading towards a wider street ahead. Buildings lined either side of him. More room meant more things he could blow up for points. An explosion in front alerted him to the arrival of the "villains". Robots burst through the walls. Dan didn't even slow down as he turned intangible. While flying through the robots, he grabbed fistfuls of wires and yanked them with him as he came out the other side of the crowd. Without the necessary components, the robots easily fell forward, deactivated. The ghost glanced over his shoulder to see yellow 2's and white 1's painted on the side of the automatons. Seven laid in the narrow street.

As Dan rounded the corner and flew into the open highway of the city, a giant metal fist slammed into his cheek. His own momentum and the force of the punch made him skid sideways against the asphalt before he regained control over his movement. A long rip in the side of shirt revealed green skin underneath. He slid into a standing position facing what had hit him. A 3-point robot had its hand outstretch where it was hidden by the building's edge before. A group of the same type of robot wheeled over to surround him, nine in total. He could hear them preparing to launch the missiles stored in the large guns atop their shoulders. Dan smirked as his fists glowed green. ' _Let's dance.'_

While the ghost started pounding on the green machines around him, in the safety of the main building, the teachers of U.A. High School gathered around the screens to observe the different areas. Wide some screens featured wide shots allowing the viewers to see a number of applicants at a time, others focused on individual students as they displayed their skills taking down robots. Whispers of scores and profiles sounded amongst those seated underneath. The scratch of pens as judges took down notes for anything noteworthy they saw. A voluptuous heroine leaned back in her seat to focus to the screen featuring the green-skinned teen. "My, my, doesn't this year's group look promising? Especially this one! I've never seen someone with such a diverse quirk. We might even need to deploy more robots in Battle Center F like we did with Battle Center A."

A shuffling of papers before a reply. "Ah, examinee number 7852, a homeschooled student from the United States. His quirk is called 'Ghost', which explains his intangibility and flight. The abilities listed for his quirk is actually quite diverse. The green energy that he calls 'ectoplasm' is also quite powerful. His quirk must be some combination of his parents'."

"Heh, Ectoplasm, you think he can duplicate like you?"

"It does say that he can duplicate himself. But seeing his skills using his other powers, I doubt it is a power he uses often. I do not believe he can form many."

A voice interrupted their conversation. "Now, now! We must focus on all examinees equally." The mousy principal said as he stood up on his seat. "I do believe it's time for their true test, don't you all think?" His paw crept towards the red button on the panel in front of him. "Let's see which ones have the characteristics of a true hero!" A beep sounded.

Dan plowed through the remaining robots, leaving a number of the machine corpses littering the street. He had to admit that this was a great stress reliever, that is if there weren't so many _brats_ in the way. The phantom had come close to mauling some of the teens that got in his way. One even had the audacity to say that he was kill-stealing, which wasn't the case at all. In his own opinion, was giving them a chance of destroying the robots, but they were so damn _slow_ at taking the robots down. More and more students had started to appear in the area as most found the wide-open space easier to work with. Some had to stop for a second and stare at the carnage that Dan was leaving behind as he punched, kicked, and blasted the robots. He had lost count after seventy points. Although some actually managed to challenge him for the kills. A girl with giant fists was slapping aside a good amount of 1 and 2-pointers while another sunk the robots into the asphalt beneath, trapping them. Soon enough, no robots remained in the area, most likely some soon to come. Dan was about to find a different spot when everything ground to a halt. They all heard it.

_Snap._ The sound of ropes releasing tension. _Boom!_ A thundering of explosions was heard as a cloud of dust rose from behind a row of buildings in front of them. The ground violently trembled below their feet, some started even to run away from whatever was the source of the earthquake. The thing stood.

' _That is a big ass robot.'_ Dan thought as a shadow was cast overhead. A large rectangular head peered over the tall buildings, locking on to the crowd of students still standing. A ginormous hand gripped the edge of a building, then suddenly crushed it. Large pieces of debris started raining down from above, a catalyst for those still standing in the shadow of the giant to start running. All except for Dan. He floated without movement, head now faced towards the ground. No one remained with him, as they had seen him easily take care of the robots himself. They simply didn't question the green-skinned teen and his odd actions even though some shot questioning glances at him.

As the rubble stopped falling around him, the scene grew quiet except for the sounds of the 0-pointer's treads moving his way. Dan landed on the ground and widened his stance. He looked up. A crazed smile lit up his face. Finally, something that would at least be somewhat of a challenge to him. Except, he would tear down their expectations, toppling the bot with just one breath. He sucked in a deep breath and held it for a second. As he blew out–

Nothing happened.

His breath was just a green-tinted mist as he opened his mouth. A second passed. Two.

A _wave_ of rage overtook him. Ten _years_. Ten years of fighting and developing his powers all flush down the drain. Even when he had just created such a powerful move to take down Amity Park, his brat of a younger self came and stole it from him. Dan had made himself the top dog, taking down all other ghosts that opposed him, but his fourteen-year-old half-human self gives an empty promise and all of a sudden, he was able to take down his future self? He held his hands close as he started to charge a ball of ecto-energy. And now here he was, a world-destroying ghost competing in an exam made for high schoolers. Forced to train to become a hero by the ghost who could erase him from time with a swing of a purple staff. Why was it him that had to be meddled with again and again? If other worlds existed like his, why was it _him_ who was forced to go through some kind of rehabilitation? Either become a hero or _don't exist_. What kind of choice was that? All because of Clockwork! As he grew angrier and angrier, the green ball of energy grew. The shadow over him grew as the 0-pointer rolled closer, reaching down to squash the examinee.

With a shout, Dan's sphere suddenly expanded and exploded outwards. A thick, neon green laser launched to towards to the robot. It sheared through the metal, cutting through the front of the chest and out the back. The beam continued through buildings behind it and up into the sky like a green beacon. The ghost finally ended his attack. It dissipated into the air. A clean hole made through the giant robot.

"Time's up!" An alarm blared through the false city.

He turned around, starting to walk away from the robot. It tilted backward, causing a loud groan came from the metal as it fell onto the buildings behind it.

"He has so many different powers! What kind of quirk is that?"

"Who is he? Why would he attack something not worth any points?"

"So strong… He's a monster."

The other examinees stared at Dan as he passed by but quickly looked the other way. The furious expression on the ghostly teen stopped anyone in their tracks trying to talk to him. He stormed past the stunned crowd, determined to get out of the arena as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! Wow! Did not expect so many people to follow after one chapter! Hope y'all will stick around :) First two things: one, NO Mineta. God, I hate the lil purple shit so much, so it was an easy decision to replace him with Dan. Two, I will follow the canon pretty closely. That isn't to say Dan is going to step in where Izuku would fight and absolutely owns his opponents. Dan will be having his own adventure. I hope I did Dan justice in this scene, just to show how overpowered he is (but not by too much). I hoped I nerfed him enough for him to pose as a U.A. student. I wouldn't doubt that 24-year old Dan would be able to go head to head with full-power All Might. Also please give me feedback on my action scene! This is my first time ever write one haha (other than the chapter 1 one).
> 
> Good news: I'm going to take back what I said about not being consistent with my updates since I realize that's just an excuse for not writing when I really enjoy writing this story. So with that said I will be updating the first of every month. I get it that it's not often, but there will be times that I update sooner than the first, so if I do, I will have until the same date of the next month to post the next chapter. For exuample, I might post Chapter 3 on the 20th of September, so I will post Chalter 4 by the 20th of October. I'm trying to get a headstart on each of my chapters, but I do have a bad habit of procrastinating.
> 
> Finally, I do a bit of drawing in my spare time, so I made Dan a BNHA reference sheet that I posted on my Tumblr, [LINK HERE](https://the-simplest-writer.tumblr.com/post/177623072865/heres-the-boy-dans-bnha-ref-sheet-from-my-fic)
> 
> Sorry that this Author's Note is so long! Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
> 
> The Simplest Writer


	3. Hero Rule 3: Overwhelm

**Author's Note at the end. I do not own Danny Phantom or My Hero Academia.**

**Hero Rule 3: Overwhelm**

_The discarded envelope with a wax seal from U.A. laid discarded on the table in front of him. The ghost, in some loose sweatshirt and sweatpants, lounged on the couch. Dan munched on some noodles as the projection started up. An ugly mustard suit blinded him for a second. He almost didn't recognize the Number One Hero as he stood in frame. His golden hair that stuck up vertically swayed slightly as the hero, All Might, turned to face the ghost. All Might's gleaming smile was there to opposite his nonchalance expression. Dan slurped at his soup._

_The American-themed hero raised his hand in greeting. "Hello, young Daniel! You may be surprised as to why I, All Might, am here as a projection!" The ghost couldn't care any less. "I will be teaching at U.A this year! I am also here to reveal your exam results. You passed the written exam, although just barely. You did skip over a good number of questions, but luckily got the bare minimum score for a pass. On the other hand, I congratulate you on such a stellar performance on the practical exam! Please look at this screen!"_

_The camera panned over to a television on the wall next to All Might. The hero pointed a remote and pressed a button. The screen flickered to scenes within the battle arena, where Dan was crushing the robots in front of him. The replay showed him punching, blasting, and ripping out wires left and right. "Of course, one cannot forget the finishing move you performed on the 0-pointer!" The screen flickered once more, showing his back and the giant robot in front. A green beam shot out and blinded the camera for a second before it refocused. The thick beam held and soon dissipated, revealing a clean hole through the robot. The television paused, and the hero turned back to face Dan._

_"Although we cannot tell what your motive was to destroy such an obstacle that was worth nothing, you managed to take it down before it harmed any others. You see the practical exam was not just graded on how many villains you took down, but also rescue points! These points are given by a panel of judges. And although some argued that you defeating the 0-pointer was a heroic action, it was a fifty-fifty split, resulting in no call being made. Other than that, you took down many enemies, but did not attempt any rescue of any kind." Dan narrowed his eyes at the blond hero and continued to eat his meal. "That led to you scoring zero rescue points. However, your villain points made it up more than enough. In fact, you set a new school record!" The entire projection was taken up by a chart of the top ten scores. Written in the top row was "Fenton Daniel". "Ninety-eight points! Good job!"_

_Before the chart fell away, Dan saw the others' scores as well. He wasn't alone in getting zero rescue points. In fact, the person in second place had seventy-seven villain points without a rescue score._

_The chart fell away to All Might in a cheesy thumbs-up pose. "Even though you did not score any rescue points, you will have more than enough chances to improve your skills here. In other words, you passed! Welcome to U.A. High School!"_

_Dan put his cup of noodles down._

That was the message that he had gotten a month back. In the following days, the school had sent him a package with an information packet along with his a few sets of the school's uniform.

And now here he was, back at U.A.'s front gate dressed in said uniform. His gray outer jacket was unbuttoned, and his red tie hung loosely from his collarbone rather than pressed against his neck. Dan took his sweet time getting to the classroom. He even made a few wrong turns in the long corridors of the school. Eventually, the ghost rounded the corner that led him to the hall that contained Class 1-A. Two people were blocking the door. Dan sighed through his nose as he approached.

"-you did! Your punch was amazing!" The girl shouted while making punching motions in the air. She looked pretty average, with brown hair cut into a bob. Nothing special.

The shorter boy in front of her blushed a bright red from her compliments. His messy hair appeared to be a typical black, but when it caught the light, revealed that it was green. Again, a pretty average-looking teen.

The ghost stopped right behind the girl, letting him see into the classroom to find the glasses-wearing nerd from the exam standing inside. "Oi, you guys going to move or what?" The three turned towards him, surprise flashing in their eyes. In fact, most of the class leaned in to see who the new voice was from. When they caught sight of him, their eyes also flashed with varying emotions. ' _Tch. Typical._ ' The trio didn't move, taking their time observing his odd looks. Dan growled and finally turned intangible. He walked through them, all three shivering when he passed by. When he regained tangibility, he started walking to an available seat in the back, ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone. His nonchalance use of his "Quirk" bothered them.

"Hey, it's you! Dan!" The ghost turned towards the classroom where he was called out. It was tape boy again. Dan had already forgotten his name since they had met. Shino or something? "Remember me, Sero?" That was it. "I didn't expect to be in the same class as you."

Several heads perked up at the mention of his name. However, one reaction caught his and everyone else's attention.

A loud bang sounded. A blond had slammed his palm against the wood of the desk and stood up from where he was lounging in his seat. " _You!_ You're the bastard who got first!" Dan noticed that the hand pressed against the surface start to smoke.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" The ghost crossed his arms across his chest as his eyes glowed brighter.

But instead of answering immediately the blond continued to grind his teeth together. Red eyes met red eyes as the two stared each other down. Dan realized this was the one who got second place. With that explosive attitude, the blond was definitely the type of guy who wouldn't spend a second wasting his time to rescue other examinees. Dan tilted his head to the side and smirked. "What did I steal your thunder in the entrance exam, number two?"

The other teen's eyes widened in anger. Dan could almost hear the guy's teeth crack with how hard he clenched his teeth. The gray smoke grew as popping sounds were heard.

Just as the blond was about to respond, a tired voice broke in. "Go somewhere else if you two want to make a scene." Behind the three standing at the door, there was a giant yellow worm. Or what appeared to be a giant yellow worm. It moved into an upright position with a zipping sound. Now that yellow object was off the floor, Dan could see clearly that it was actually a person in a sleeping bag as the adult climbed out of the bag. Dressed in black with messy, long hair and a worn-out expression that made him look like a hobo, Dan thought the teacher looked really familiar. _'I feel like I've seen this guy before.'_

"You kids are really wasting my time." The man stated without preamble as he climbed out of the sleeping bag. "Anyways, I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Nice to meet you." He didn't even bother putting enough emotion to make his greeting sarcastic. The man reached into the sleeping bag that he was just in and took out a blue suit. "It's kind of sudden but put this on and go out on to the field. You should find one of these in your gym locker. Hurry up."

The class was too shocked at the strange introduction to argue.

— RtH —

Dan tugged at the loose blue uniform. He knew that he didn't look good in blue. At least he was allowed to keep his white boots, tucking most of the long blue pants of the gym uniform into them.

"A Quirk assessment test?!" The class was incredulous. Dan looked up from his gym clothes, finally paying attention to what was going on around him. A test the first day was a bit out of the blue. At least it was better than doing some stupid icebreaker activity. He continued to stand in the back of the group to observe.

"What about the entrance ceremony? Or the orientation?" The brown-haired girl cried out.

"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for those kinds of events." Aizawa looked over his shoulder back at the students. "U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes." He motioned to the field around him. "You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks."

Dan still remembered physical education back at Casper High School. He- his human half would struggle through the class. He himself would hate every second of it. But at least he had the class with his-

"Fenton, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?"

That snapped Dan out of his memories. "Yeah."

"What was your best result for a long-distance throw?"

The ghost crossed his arms. "I was homeschooled, never got tested. I don't even know if the U.S. physical fitness test has a ball throw."

Aizawa sighed. "Thanks for ruining my demonstration. Bakugo." The blond perk up. "What was your best result?"

"Sixty-seven meters."

Aizawa then had the blond throw the ball with his Quirk. Dan had to admit, the explosive power was pretty impressive. From sixty-seven meters to over seven hundred was a big difference. Sure, as a twenty-four-year-old, he was able to toss tanks like they were nothing, but he wasn't sure how he would fare now in his fourteen-year-old body. As everyone else around him got more and more excited, Dan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Throwing balls and doing some exercises weren't that interesting. If he was going to be forced to go to some hero school, at the very least have it be exciting.

The teacher spoke over the enthusiastic whispers of the students. "'It looks fun', huh?" The mutterings stopped. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?" Aizawa suddenly smiled menacingly. "All right. Whoever comes in last place in the total results after all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

Dan started. He could actually get out of this school. Sure, it would look pretty suspicious after getting first in the entrance exam, but he could—

Suddenly, the ghost's vision went black for a second. A harsh throbbing started on the back of his head, making his hand shoot up to rub it. It was almost as if someone had hit him over the head with a metal bat. _'…Or a time-controlling staff.'_ Dan thought as he looked down at the dirt in front of him. Elegant writing was scratched into the ground.

_Do your best, or else._

The words were followed by a simple smiley face. Dan harshly kicked the loose dirt, erasing the words from existence. Why Clockwork decided to continuously bother him was beyond him. His anger would probably be mistaken for the test's unforgiving condition.

The scraggy hero continued. "Us teachers are free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students. This is the real deal. Welcome to U.A.'s hero course!"

As most of the other students freaked out, the brown-haired girl spoke up. "But it's the first day of school! Even if it wasn't, it's completely unfair!"

While Aizawa went into a speech about fairness, the ghost started to tune him out. Dan could _definitely_ say a few things about fairness. At the same time, Dan felt eyes on his back. He turned to see one of his classmates intensely staring at him. Dan met the other's mismatched eyes. The phantom's white, flaming hair danced in the wind as a breeze passed by, the other's eyes flicking up to it. Finally, the red- and white-haired teen looked away. Dan huffed and faced the teacher again. What was that guy's deal?

The class started to head over to the short track, Dan following behind. Sero slowed his walking to match Dan's pace. The ghost obviously ignored him.

"Man, a fifty-meter dash right off the bat, huh?" The teen's black eyes darted over to look at Dan but swiftly returned. Sero rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I mean, we could be expelled if we don't get good results. What if your Quirk doesn't even help with any of the tests? Aren't you nervous?"

"No."

"Oh." The other teen's smile still was plastered on his face but threatened to drop. He looked towards the dirt below. "It's just… I'm definitely not the fastest, or the strongest, or—"

"Would you quit whining?" Dan cut Sero off. Aizawa called his and another student's name. As Dan headed towards the front of the group, he spoke. "Don't you have tape arms or something? Can't you just stick to something and pull yourself across? Quit bothering me."

He didn't look back as Sero's expression turned thoughtful.

Dan stood at the start line of the short track alongside the teen with glasses. Without the long pants of the regular school uniform, the phantom could see six pipes coming out of each of the teen's calves. Literally a guy built for speed. Great. The blue-haired teen nodded at him in greeting.

A camera-bodied robot stood at the end of the track. "On your mark…" it sounded.

Dan placed his feet into the footholds below him. "Get set…" The teen beside him tensed.

As soon as the gunshot sound was heard, the two were off.

Dan's legs morphed into a spectral tail as he flew towards the other end of the track. Even though the race was over in seconds, Dan still had time to glance to his left and saw the other teen just slightly behind him. Just after the end of the track, Dan's legs returned to help him stop his momentum. The robot sounded moments after. "2.97 seconds. 3.04 seconds." Dan huffed. With only fifty meters, his didn't have enough distance to accelerate to his top speed of 112 miles per hour, even if his top speed was outdated. In front of him, the other racer skid to a stop as well, calves smoking. As Dan walked back towards the rest of the class, he could see the looks of amazement from everyone else, especially from the blue-haired teen.

While he was on his way back, the next two students lined up. It was Sero and a girl with the features of a frog. The robot sounded. The frog girl started long hops towards the finish line. Sero started to run while putting his elbows in front of him. Two long lines of tape stretched out and stuck onto a fence. The tape became taut and Sero jumped upwards, allowing the tape to retract and pull him towards the finish. The teen looked towards Dan and shot him a larger smile than his usual one as he passed by. "5.19 seconds." The frog girl hopped by as well. "5.58 seconds."

Dan rolled his eyes. At least the other teen was smart enough to figure it out.

— RtH —

The rest of the tests went as smoothly as the fifty-meter dash. His superhuman strength gotten him 314 kilograms of force (here he promised himself to gain his muscular body back). On the standing long jumps, he casually floated over the sandpit. The only test he didn't do above average on was the repeated side steps.

Dan had gotten 705.9 meters in the ball throw. His throw had lit the ball in glowing ectoplasm and left a green trail after it. After his throw, Dan's attention was finally drawn back to the other students as the brown-haired girl scored an infinity with her anti-gravity Quirk. Dan's attentiveness almost drifted away again when the short, green-haired teen was up, but a gray band floated into his line of sight. The robot's voice sounded. "forty-six meters."

As their homeroom teacher spoke to the other teen, Dan's eyes narrowed. The floating scarf revealed golden goggles underneath. He had seen the floating hair before, but where…

As the gray scarf reached out to drag the short teen towards their homeroom teacher, it snapped into place.

"You're the guy from when I got here!" Dan dumbly shouted, interrupting the two's intense conversation.

Aizawa turned to face him. The teacher blinked, and his hair drifted back down. From the hero's expression, the rest of the class could only imagine that their teacher had sweatdropped.

"You only remembered it just now?" The teacher sighed and retracted his scarf from the teen in front of him. "Well, I guess I can only be glad you ended up going the legal way into heroics."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the jokes." Dan talked back. "How about you stop wasting _our_ time shitting on the kid and let him throw the damn ball."

Aizawa blinked. The green-haired teen blinked. The homeroom teacher rolled his eyes and turned back to face the other kid, "Why do I have so many damn brats in my class this year? Anyways, you have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with."

The frog girl beside where Dan was standing spoke. "Are you worried for him, Fenton-san?" Her large eyes looked at him with a somewhat intense stare, her long tongue ruining her otherwise serious look.

"Hell no, I don't even know him." Aizawa's speech had reached his sensitive ears. His mind had flashed back to the times he was injured with two friends to help him. "Just thought that Aizawa was giving him some useless advice."

A sudden breeze shifted Dan's flaming hair towards the center of the pitch. " _Smash...!_ " The ball shot into the sky. A whirlwind followed behind the baseball, arching far into the blue.

"705.3 meters."

The teen moved his hand into a fist, revealing his broken index finger. He grinned despite the pain. Dan was slightly impressed. "Aizawa-sensei, I can still move!"

' _Huh.'_ The ghost thought. _'I guess that's why Aizawa warned him. His strength literally breaks his own bones.'_ Nevertheless, it was a far cry from what the blond had said about the teen in front of them being Quirkless.

Speaking of the blond, he tried to attack the shorter teen, who trembled in fear as the other charged at him. Aizawa, of course, stopped him, but revealed that he actually had dry eye which was a pretty shitty drawback for his Quirk.

After that scene, the class moved on to the rest of the tests. The last three tests were just as easy as the first ones. Dan saw Sero use his tape Quirk more often, and every time Sero saw Dan look his way, the black-haired teen would flash him a thumbs-up, making the ghost quickly look away with a scoff.

Dan's spectral body easily allowed him to ; over for the seated toe-touch. His sit-ups result wasn't anything special though. Finally, the long-distance run was a breeze as he flew ahead of the group, hearing the sounds of the others using their Quirks behind him.

Again, the class gathered together around Aizawa at the end of the last test. "The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It's a waste of time to explain verbally, so I'll show you the final results all at once." The shaggy-looking hero pressed a button, displaying a blue, holographic list.

Dan was listed as number one, no surprise there. Instead, his eyes drifted onto the name of the person who would be expelled. _Midoriya Izuku_.

The short teen beside him gasped. Dan saw it was the kid who had broken his finger from the ball throw. He had pretty average results for a normal human but compared to the rest of the class, his results had put him in last. The teen had a look of despair.

"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion." Their homeroom teacher stated offhandedly. The class stared in disbelief. "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks."

"What?!" the rest of the class shouted in shock.

The girl with her hair done up in a ponytail was unfazed. "Of course, that was a lie. It should've been obvious if you just thought it through."

' _Yeah, except it wasn't.'_ From the talk with Izuku during the ball throw, Dan knew Aizawa was serious about kicking anyone out with no good results. Why he changed his mind though, Dan didn't bother to guess.

The teacher turned to walk back into the building. "There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom, so when you get back, look over them."

— RtH —

Dan sighed as he moved passed the groups of students meandering around the school's front courtyard. Today was honestly a waste of time. He hoped that the following days at the school wouldn't be as boring.

"Dan-kun!"

The ghost turned around to find three of his classmates behind him. Izuku Midoriya stood in between the two.

"What?"

"Eep!" The boy managed to squeak out and took a step back.

The girl immediately took over for the timid teen. "Hi! Are you also walking to the station? We could walk together! I'm Uraraka Ochako." She motioned to the taller teen on her right. "This is Iida Tenya." The nerdy teen waved his arm in a stiff action. "And this is Midoriya Izuku." She gave a light shove to Izuku to make him stop cowering. "You're Fenton Daniel, right?"

"It's Dan." He replied automatically. The phantom internally scolded himself. "I'm not going to the station." His apartment was actually nearby the station, but they didn't need to know that he was heading in the same direction.

"Oh…" The girl's bubbly attitude lessened for a moment before returning full force. "I just wanted to say that you were really cool during the Quirk assessment test!"

'… _Cool?'_ Dan hadn't heard that kind of compliment since-

At his pause, Iida added, "I was also very impressed at your speed during the fifty-meter dash. I assume that was not your top speed? The track was too short for me to reach my top speed as well."

"Uh, yeah." Dan didn't know why he didn't end the conversation. "Haven't kept track of my top speed in a while though." Why did he say that?

Iida did a chopping motion onto his other hand and smiled. "Perhaps we can make use of the school's facility sometime."

"Would you like to have lunch with us tomorrow, Dan-san?" Izuku finally spoke up, coming out of his shell as his two friends succeeded in making conversation with the ghost. "I'd like to get to know you and your Quirk."

He had to stop this now. "No." Dan took a step backward and turned to walk away. "…See you tomorrow." He turned invisible and flew towards his apartment, not like anyone could catch him for using his "Quirk" in public. That kind of life was behind him. His life with two best friends following him on his adventures was gone. He'd be damned if he made the same mistake twice. His flight back to the apartment was quick and silent.

Back at the school entrance, the trio was startled by their classmate's abrupt departure. Izuku sighed. "Well, that went as well as I expected. Uraraka-san, why did you call out to him?" Dan reminded him of Kacchan, aggressive and hot-tempered.

"I wondered the same thing as well. It seems that Dan-san is a very private person."

Ochako stared at the spot that Dan had stood. Suddenly, her face morphed into a determined expression and she pumped her fist. She turned towards the two boys. "He's not private, I think he's actually really lonely. He just needs to get used to our class, and we're giving him a head-start!" Her two friends looked at her with an exasperated expression, thinking that she was really trying to make friends with all of her classmates. Ochako didn't tell the two the emotion that had flashed through their classmate's crimson eyes when he had turned to see them together. She didn't tell them how lost he looked, or how a flash of envy crossed his face. The gravity girl knew what her classmate wanted, even if he didn't want to acknowledge it himself. And as a hero-in-training, she was going to help Fenton Dan.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! A day earlier than expected, woot woot! In reality I worked on my fic to procrastinate on my actual school work :) Managed to shove in an extra 1K words even though this chapter isn't action-packed, reaching my goal of 10K in three chapters. Sorry this chapter seems to be super canonized, I just thought this was a good way to show how Dan compares to the rest of the class along with establishing some relationships. But next chapter will be the Battle Simulation arc! Yay~
> 
> Also follow my Tumblr to keep up with my daily life or whatever shows up over there! Find it [here](https://the-simplest-writer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
> 
> The Simplest Writer


	4. Hero Rule 4: Cooperate

**Hero Rule 4: Communicate**

School was just like he remembered it ten years ago when he was still half-human. Math, science, history, Japanese, and English. These were all required subjects. This time around he didn't have constant ghost attacks interrupting class time, forcing him to actually stay in class and learn high school material.

Speaking of ghosts, Dan had voluntarily gone to the school's extensive library. By being surrounded by other students who freely used their Quirks, the ghost thought it best to research their limits. Which was to say the least, none. Skimming over history and biology books, Dan had learned further about how this world had evolved into a population with super powers. However, he saw no mention of ghosts, which didn't make sense considering how his homeroom teacher's Quirk had interfered with his ghost powers. Hell, his math teacher's hero name was literally "Ectoplasm" but didn't even trigger his ghost sense. Did that mean that his powers were now a "Quirk Factor"? Or other Quirk-manipulating Quirks would work on his powers as well? Was he now a human with a Ghost Quirk or still a ghost? Only the meddling time ghost knew. Another question to ask after he pummeled Clockwork. In the meantime, Dan would handle those problems as they came.

After his free period in the library (which was actually his lunch, and while the gourmet food was tempting, others attempting to socialize with him made him realize again that eating wasn't essential), they all returned to the classroom to wait for their next teacher. Dan was the last one to filter into the room. Just after taking his seat, Dan could hear loud footsteps outside of the classroom.

"I am…" The door slid open. A giant shape of red, white, and blue came in. "walking through the door like a normal person!" Dan just sighed while the rest of the class looked in awe. He would've thought the Number One Hero would've been more impressive in person, not a buff, walking American flag. Hell, Izuku looked like he was going to vibrate himself through the floor. All Might stood at the podium in the front. "I teach Hero Basic Training, where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero. You'll take the most units in this subject." As he continued, Dan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Let's get right into it! This is what we'll do today: combat training!" At this, the ghost perked up a little. Battling other people instead of robots caught his interest. Whispers spread throughout the classroom.

"And to go with that are these!" All Might motioned to the wall. Shelves with numbered packages slid out. "Costumes made based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started. After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!"

All the students rushed to get their personalized outfits. Even Dan picked up his pace to grab the package with the neon "19" on it. After training in the gym uniform or his makeshift outfit, he was glad to switch back into something more familiar.

— RtH —

Dan was the last one to stroll out of the dark tunnel, his monochrome cape flaring out behind him. His costume had been easy to come up with. Aside from asking for the toughest, lightest material they had, the material had been the only difference from his old outfit he had written for his costume request. The support department must've found his design a bit plain as they added little compartments to his white belt, which he had to admit were pretty useful. Albeit, his monochrome outfit didn't quite have the same effect as it did when he had his muscular, older body. Another reason he was working out after class every day.

Ahead of him, Ochaco turned from another student in a teal jumpsuit with white highlights to look back at him. "Dan-kun! Wow, I really like your costume too! The color scheme is really nice, and you've already made your own emblem!" At this, the student she was speaking to before turned around, revealing him to be Izuku.

'… _What is he wearing?'_ Dan thought as he looked over the rabbit-themed costume. The smiling mouth guard and the rabbit ears threw him off. It looked like it had come from a child's sketchbook. The ghost looked over Ochaco's outfit. The bodysuit looked to be made out of the same material as his own, skintight but not easy to tear. Pink armor covered her legs and head. The pink accents suited her well. "Uh, thanks. Yours too."

"Ah, Dan-san," Izuku murmured, pushing his two index fingers against each other, "Did you… did you take inspiration from All Might too?"

"What?" Dan recoiled. "Hell no! I've never-" The ghost looked up at the posing superhero standing before the class. Although All Might's eyes were heavily shadowed, the ghost could tell the Symbol of Peace was observing them. The skintight jumpsuit, knee-high boots, flowing cape… _'God damn it.'_ He squinted. "Just… no."

"Ah, okay." The other teen rubbed the back of his head. "It looks does look really cool though. With that emblem, I'm assuming you already know your hero name."

"Yeah, my hero name…" Dan crossed his arms. "Didn't you guys already decide on them?"

"Ah no, I think that comes later."

Before they could continue on about costumes and heroes, All Might spoke about the exercise that was going to take place. Dan, obviously, tuned most of his speech out. Combat training, battling against his classmates in a building. It seemed easy enough, as long as whoever was his partner didn't get in his way. It was unfortunate he couldn't choose his partner himself.

The class lined up in front of All Might, each person being handed a slip of paper one by one, with their partner stepping out of line with them. Dan was at the very end, meaning that someone was bound to grab his name from the box. But who?

"Dan-kun!" A female's voice shouted by him.

He turned around to look at who said his name, but he was faced with air. "Who-"

"I'm so glad to have you as a partner! After all, you're so strong!" The air sounded again.

Dan finally noticed the floating gloves and empty boots in front of him, one of the gloves holding a slip of paper with his name on it. Her hands suddenly moved to hold each other, and a boot lifted to turn back and forth on its toe, like the movements of a shy girl. "We've never really talked to each other in class, but my name is Hagakure Toru. It's nice to meet you!"

This girl was his partner. Just an ordinary person who just happened to be invisible. "Is being invisible your Quirk?"

"Yep! Pretty good for sneaking around and stuff!"

'… _Useless. Absolutely useless.'_ His eye twitched.

"Now then, the first teams to fight will be," All Might brought the class' attention back to him. He reached into the two boxes. "these guys! Team A will be the heroes, and Team D will be the villains. Everyone else, head towards the monitor room."

As he walked away from the building and into the monitor room, Dan thought to himself. He could still easily win the battle as long as he either kept the payload away for fifteen minutes or knock the others out first. However, from the looks of her gloves and boots, it didn't seem like his partner could add others to her invisibility like other ghosts could. Damn, it seemed like he actually had to plan this one out.

"Oh, Dan-kun, it looks like you're thinking really hard." The ghost frowned and turned to face his partner (or at least where he thought she was). "Don't stress it! We're definitely going to win!" Her glove formed a thumbs up.

"Okay, Team A, Team D!" All Might spoke into a microphone while holding a clipboard. "Your combat training starts now!" The Number One Hero spoke to the rest of the class. "Everyone, you should be thinking as well. Take this time to improve your analysis skills!"

Needless to say, there wasn't much to analyze for him. Izuku and Bakugo fought long and hard, destroying most of the building. Bakugo's selective attack on Izuku wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it did provide a good amount of entertainment. Dan had to say that he was impressed at the amount of destruction they caused. Their one-on-one battle was long and hard fought. With Bakugo's aggressive moves and Izuku's careful and sparse use of his self-harming Quirk, it was an interesting matchup for sure. Izuku was clearly outmatched from the beginning, yet his team still won in the end. It almost reminded him of-

" _That power… It's not possible! I don't get that power until ten years from now."_

" _I guess the future isn't as set in stone as you think it is."_

Dan shook himself out of his memories. Getting caught up in his defeat wasn't going to do him any good. In the meantime, All Might had gone to retrieve the three that weren't critically injured in the fight. The girl with a high ponytail was currently explaining her analysis of the fight.

Toru's gloves moved next to him. "What an exciting fight, Dan-kun." She whispered to him. "Let's hope that ours will go a lot smoother."

"Tch." Dan looked over to her. "Sure."

"All right, everyone, let's change locations and start the second match." All Might once again reached into the two boxes containing the teams' letters. "Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about. Okay! Match two…"

— RtH —

The two of them stood on the fourth floor with the giant papier-mâché missile next to them. Dan found it ironic that he was on the villain team, not that he would ever use a missile. He had destroyed everything around Amity Park by hand. If he remembered right, they were up against the kid with ice powers and the beefy guy with six appendages, not like he could remember their names. Ice was easy enough to handle, after all he had destroyed the Far Frozen along with its citizens back in his timeline. Frostbite and his people did give the phantom a good run for his money, but eventually they fell against him like the rest of the ghosts.

"Dan-kun," Toru brought him out of his thoughts. "I'm going to get serious. I'll take off my gloves and boots, too!"

The ghost huffed. He leaned against one of the pillars of the room and crossed his arms. He stared into the space that she occupied. He was ignorant and fourteen when he had chosen to be a hero after obtaining ghost powers. Ghost powers that could actually do something. "Oi." Toru stopped in the middle of taking one of her shoes off. "Answer me this."

"Uh, sure. But it better not be questions about my measurements!"

His piercing red eyes landed on where her voice originated. "How do you think you'll become a hero with such a useless Quirk?"

"… H-huh?"

"Invisibility by itself isn't much. In fact, it's one of my powers." His visibility flickered as an example. "But your Quirk doesn't even allow you to wear clothes before it becomes absolutely useless. Hell, you can't even carry capture equipment if you don't want to get noticed. So, how did you even get the idea that you could become a hero?"

A moment of silence. Then a sniff. She was holding back tears. "D-Dan…"

His mouth stretched out into a snarl. She wasn't answering his _question._ "You saw what those two did back there in the match. If you were hit with Bakugo's explosion, you'd be dead. Even if you did go completely invisible, it would only be a matter of time before some large area attack would knock you out. Face it. You're useless in this situation and no help to me. Hell, why anyone with a pathetic Quirk want to become a hero is beyond me-"

" _I want to be a hero!_ " Her sudden shout cut him off. "I want to be a hero." She repeated softer. "I know my Quirk isn't the most useful, especially compared with All Might or other top heroes." Her gloves twisted up, two hand indentions showing her wringing them together. "But I want to help people. Not having a strong Quirk isn't an excuse. Even if I don't get seen, knowing that I was able to help others is enough for me. Even if I'm not seen physically, I'll still be remembered as a hero, always present to help those that can't save themselves. And… and maybe, people who think their Quirks aren't suited for hero work can believe that they can be heroes too."

Dan stared at her then turned away. He didn't say anything. That didn't tell him shit.

"Dan-kun," her voice was stronger now, more resolved. "I hope you figure out why you want to be a hero too."

His head swiveled back to her. "What-"

An alarm sounded. The match had begun.

Only a couple seconds passed before a sudden chill was around them. Frost began to bloom from all over, quickly encasing the room, the fake missile, and their feet. Soon enough, the entire building was covered in ice.

"C-Cold! So cold!" The two boots were incased in ice next to him. Footsteps were heard coming up the stairwell, ice crunching beneath them.

Hell would freeze over if Dan gave up the combat training that easily. He turned invisible and intangible, ice that was crawling up his cape and legs easily sliding off. The ghost grabbed Toru's (hopefully) arm and brought her up to the floor above. She let out a soft "oof" as she landed unsteadily on the icy floor. Dan looked over his shoulder. "Stay here. Don't get in my way." He let out a menacing grin. "I'll take care of them."

The ghost phased through the floor once more and found him face to face with the white- and red-haired teen, only that his left side was now entirely covered in ice. He sent an invisible clone off to look for the other one.

"I should have expected my ice not to stop you." He lifted his right arm. "But I've already come so close to your weapon, it's impossible to stop me now."

"Like Hell it is!" Dan growled as his fists glowed green. Suddenly, sharp icicles sped towards him. Ectoplasm-covered gloves punched through the layers of ice as he charged through the attack. The ghost saw the other teen's uncovered eye widen as he plowed through the attack before his fist collided with the other teen, launching his opponent back down the staircase. Dan flew after him, grabbing the teen's white shirt and tossing him into the floor below. As Dan followed him into the room, Dan's duplicate had found the partner.

Sneaking invisibly to the first floor, Dan had found the six-armed teen waiting for his partner. He stood unguarded, arms crossed and appendages down, expecting the message that they had won. Not giving the other teen time to activate whatever Quirk he had, the clone reappeared silently behind him with the white capture tape in one hand and a glowing green ball of ectoplasm in the other. "Surprise."

The ghost launched the sphere into the muscular teen's face as the other turned to face him in surprise. Not knowing if that was enough to knock him out, the clone followed up with an energized sucker punch. His opponent fell down to the ground out cold. It was unfortunate that he wasn't as much as a challenge as Dan anticipated, but his opponent believed that it was already a victory for them. The clone bound the downed teen with the tape and dissipated.

The original Dan spoke to the recovering ice user, floating above him. They had traded light blows, testing each other. "Your partner's unconscious and captured. Looks like your victory isn't coming as smoothly as you thought."

"…A minor setback." The other spoke, right arm ready to launch another attack.

— RtH —

Although the rest of the class was shivering in the monitor room, they were all in awe of the two powerhouses.

"Todoroki didn't cause any damage to his teammate or the nuclear weapon," stated All Might. "but he severely underestimated Fenton's skills."

"He can clone himself?! What can't this guy do?"

"Dan was able to knock out Mezo so quickly! So manly!"

Izuku stared in amazement at the screen displaying the two students battle. Flashes of ice and ectoplasm were exchanged, neither gaining the upper hand. Attacks of green energy was blocked by a shield of ice, while chucks of ice were constantly being smashed to pieces. _'Even with One for All, I don't think I could even touch them.'_ Especially the Ghost Quirk user. Intangibility was a huge advantage against someone who could only use punches and kicks.

Meanwhile behind the class, one blonde shook in disbelief as he watched this new battle take place. A fist curled in anger as blow after blow was exchanged. A wave of ice. A beam of green. Each move from either person was planned and calculated only to be blocked and countered. At some points, even he couldn't keep up with the moves that the two were making. Even when Dan's duplicate returned again to get a surprise shot at Todoroki's back, the ice user was able to impale it with a spike of ice, making it dissipate into green smoke.

"Look they're slowing down!" The class could now see that the two still stood across from each other. Ice had chipped off of Todoroki's ice-covered side, revealing his parts of his arm and leg when he wasn't fast enough to bring up a shield against Dan's energy blasts and had tried to protect his uncovered side. On the other hand, while Dan managed to escape being trapped in ice, small cuts in his uniform were from high-speed shards. A small cut under his left eye leaked green blood. However, the most unsettling thing was the large grin plastered on Dan's face. It was borderline maniacal.

"Ah, I see Dan-san is also playing into his role of a villain." Iida stated.

But All Might knew that look. As he stared at the green-skinned teen, the Number One Hero broke into a sweat. He had seen such an expression countless times on a number of different faces, but only one memory came to mind. That face was no pretend or roleplay, that smile was real. It was _dangerous._

Todoroki was the one to speak first during this standoff. The class wished they could hear what the two were saying because Dan responded with a laugh. Of course, the ice user used this opportunity to send another wave of ice, which was now blocked by a glowing green wall. Dan continued to speak behind this wall generated by one of his outstretched hands, seemingly joking about something. The Ghost Quirk user tapped his wrist as if he was motioning to a watch. This made the class' attention return to the timer on the monitor, which only had two minutes on the clock.

The two fighters stood at an impasse. One in a pose of arrogance, while the other stood in cool acknowledgment. Finally, the dual-colored teen sighed and raised his hands in surrender.

"Villain team wins!"

A sudden heat rewarmed the monitor room. The ice melted around Todoroki and continued to melt off of the building, steam being created by the sudden temperature change. Dan seemed unaffected. Todoroki headed back down the stairs without a word while Dan simply floated through the floors below.

The class started to speak again about the match.

"Wow, that was crazy!"

"As expected of someone who got in through recommendations and the number one of the entrance exams."

All Might turned to face the class. All four participants returned to the monitor room. Luckily, Mezo regained consciousness just after the match was over, and aside from a headache, was fine. "All right, everyone, gather round for a review of the second match. Afterwards, we'll get started on the third match."

— RtH —

The rest of the matches passed smoothly. Dan only participated in the analysis when called on by All Might, but even then, gave short, decisive answers. After hero training and All Might dashing off to take care of his number one fan, the ghost couldn't wait for afternoon classes to finish.

As soon as Aizawa dismissed them and left the room, Dan was ready to follow after the scruffy homeroom teacher as well.

"Uh, Dan-kun…" A voice sounded behind him. It was Toru. She didn't wait for a response before she spoke again. "I've been thinking about what you said during our match against Todoroki and Shoji. Oh, and also how your own Quirk works as well." The sleeves of her uniform came together as if she was holding her hands. "I was wondering if you would teach me to use invisibility like you!"

Dan stared at her.

" _I hope you figure out why you want to be a hero too."_

He stood up and swung his bookbag over his shoulder. "I doubt that my invisibility works the same as yours. I can't teach you anything." Toru seemed to deflate at that. "I don't know. Figure out why you're invisible in the first place. Has to do something with light, right? With refraction and all? I wasn't paying attention in science today."

As he headed towards the door, Dan could hear Sero behind him shuffle towards Toru, whose uniform was posed as if she was thinking hard.

"He give you backhanded advice as well?" The ghost twitched when he heard the tape dispenser whisper.

Dan huffed as he walked out the door of Class 1-A.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late, midterms were a drag. I won't write too much this time for AN, just some updates.
> 
> Went back to Chapter 1 and included why Dan can suddenly speak Japanese thanks to an idea from Remzal Von Enili! It's just a small paragraph added.
> 
> Please vote in my poll on my FF.net profile! Your input matters a lot to me~ Especially for choose which teacher will face off against Dan!
> 
> Want sneak peaks and random updates about my life? Check out my Tumblr, the-simplest-writer.
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
> 
> The Simplest Writer
> 
> Fun Fact: I actually dislike angst Danny fics. I think they're overdone and few and far in between well done. I especially hate Danny flying into the night sky, whipping out his iPod and breaking into song. Like ew. I'd take an Angry Dan over Angsty Danny any day.


	5. Hero Rule 5: Communicate

**Hero Rule 5: Communicate**

Dan dozed off as the class around him exploded in excitement for the election of class president. Needless to say, he really couldn't have cared less. And those damn reporters from this morning already put him in a bad mood. They had tried to swarm him, asking the ghost questions about All Might, but he just turned intangible and invisible to get into school. Izuku turned around in the seat in front of him, spotting his classmate's bored expression.

"Ah, Dan-san, are you not going to run for class representative?" He asked in surprise. Even Bakugo was vying for the position.

The teen opened one of his eyes, piercing Izuku with his crimson gaze. "And why the Hell would I want to be class representative?"

The green-haired teen waved his hands in front of himself nervously. "Ah well, wouldn't it be good practice being a top hero by leading a group."

"Practice being a top hero, huh?" The ghost responded as he rested his chin on one hand. "Then I definitely don't want to do it."

Izuku just looked at his classmate in confusion.

Before he could ask Dan for clarification, Iida yelled for order in the class. "Silence, please! It is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others. It is not a job for just anyone who wants to do it. It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you. If we want to use democracy to decide on a true leader, then we should hold an election to choose one." The bespectacled teen said all of this while keeping his hand raised high above his head.

Dan just rolled his eyes at the speech.

"Why did you suggest that?" asked Kaminari.

Tsuyu interjected as well, "We haven't known each other for that long, so how can we trust one person with the job?"

"If that's the case, and everyone votes for themselves…" Kirishima trailed off.

Izuku poked his two index fingers together, eyes flickering to Dan who was still lounging at his desk. "Well, one person will have to have two votes since Dan-san isn't running for class representative."

At Izuku's statement, all of his classmates' eyes drifted to the ghost. It took a moment for Dan to realize that the class had gotten very silent, and when he turned around, he was swarmed by the more enthusiastic students.

"Hey Fenton-san, you're a real man, so why don't you vote for me?!"

Kirishima was quickly shoved over by Sero. "You've known me longer, Dan-san! Vote for me!"

"You don't really know me, but you can totally trust me with the role!" Kaminari said as he pushed Sero's head towards the ground.

As his classmates surrounded him, Dan's hair flared in anger. "Oi, get away from me! I'll vote for whoever I damn feel like it!" At the hot-headed teen's shout, his classmates slowly scooted away.

Aizawa sighed from his spot at the podium, zipped up in his yellow sleeping bag. "Hurry up and decide before homeroom is over."

At this, Iida handed out slips of paper for everyone to write their votes on. Dan thought for a second before writing his answer down and dropping it in the front. Soon, everyone had handed in their votes. Iida stood back up and sorted through everyone's votes before quickly scrawling the votes neatly on the chalkboard.

At the top of the list, Izuku's name was written with four votes and Momo's below his with two.

Izuku shouted in shock, "I got four votes?!" He quickly turned to the green-skinned teen behind him, who sat at his desk with his arms crossed.

Bakugo stood up in his seat to look back at Dan. "You voted for Deku?!"

Dan ignored the blond to stared back at the shorter teen. "You're probably the least irritated here. Don't make me change my mind."

"Ah well, thank you, Dan-san," Izuku nodded to him. "I wonder who the other two votes were from…"

Aizawa called Izuku and Momo up to the front of the class. The shorter teen was trembling with nervousness while the girl was simply staring at her co-leader in pity. "Then, the class rep is Midoriya, and the deputy class rep will be Yaoyorozu." Their scruffy teacher waved them back to their seats. "Hurry up, we still have morning classes to get through."

—RtH—

Dan sighed as he sat down at a table in the corner of the lunchroom. Today the ghost didn't feel like researching more about Quirks, so he finally decided to try out the highly-ranked cafeteria for once. He had grabbed a bowl of noodles and quickly found an empty table where he wouldn't be bothered by the other people in the room. Grabbing the plastic fork he had requested from the server, he grabbed a strand and put it in his mouth. It was surprisingly delicious.

"Dan-kun, do you mind if we sit here?" He looked up from his meal to see Ochaco and her two friends standing with their trays. As his mouth was full of noodles, Dan could only shake his head in denial. Of course, the bubbly girl just ignored his motion and sat down next to him. Her two companions were more hesitant to follow the girl's lead, but they eventually sat down across from them. "It's totally packed today, but you managed to save a table!"

It was more like Dan had glared at anyone who approached it. Soon enough, the three were having a conversation with the phantom as an unwilling audience member.

"Even though I've been chosen as class rep, I don't know if I'm qualified for it," Izuku stated as he looked sadly into his egg-covered rice bowl.

"You are," Ochaco quickly reassured him while munching on her rice.

"It'll be fine," Iida continued. "Your courage and judgment at critical moments make you worth following. That is why I voted for you."

Izuku gasped in shock. "It was you?"

"But didn't you want to be class rep too, Iida?" Ochaco asked her classmate. "I mean, you've got glasses and everything."

Dan smirked into his noodles but didn't say anything about the girl's comment.

Iida calmly took a sip from his drink before answering. "Wanting to do it and being suitable for it are different issues. I merely did what I judged to be correct."

"'Merely'?" The two questioned.

"You don't usually use that word…" Izuku commented.

Ochaco finally put down her rice bowl. "I've been thinking… Are you a rich boy, Iida?"

Dan rolled his eyes, finally saying his first words. "Do you even need to ask him that? It's literally written on his forehead."

Iida flinched away in shock. "I-is it really that apparent? I tried to change how I talk because I didn't want to be called rich." The teen finally sighed. "Yes, my family has been heroes for generations. I'm the second son. Do you know the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?"

The two others nodded enthusiastically, while Dan just looked at Iida blankly.

"Of course!" Izuku answered. "He's a really popular hero who has sixty-five sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency! Don't tell me—"

"He is my elder brother!" Iida finished. "He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads people. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother."

Dan scoffed, interrupting Iida's moment. "Must suck being roped into being a hero."

The three turned towards him, confused by his words. "What do you mean, Dan-san?" Izuku asked.

Dan just narrowed his eyes. "Raised by heroes, how could you even think about doing anything else? Literally surrounded about people preaching about what's 'justice' and 'fair'. Would make me vomit in a heartbeat." The ghost crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the table, noodles forgotten. "What if you just wanted to live a normal life? Get a normal job? It would have been impossible with your whole family hanging over your shoulders."

"B-but…" The bespectacled teen stuttered.

"Not like you would ever get that idea in your head. Just following after dear old mom, dad, and brother, right?"

Ochaco turned to the ghostly teen next to her. "But Dan, don't you have a role model you look up to? One that motivated you to become a hero?"

Dan laughed harshly. "As if I ever wanted—"

Before the ghost could finish his statement, a bell rung throughout the school. It wasn't time to switch periods, however.

"An alarm?!" Izuku thought aloud.

A voice over the loudspeaker sounded. "There has been a Level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly. I repeat…"

"What's "Level 3 security"?" Iida asked.

A teen that was passing by their table stopped to answer. "It means someone is trespassing on school grounds! I've never seen anything like this in the three years I've been here! You four should hurry, too." He sprinted out of the lunchroom with the rest of the crowd.

The four glanced at each other before heading to the main lunchroom doors. They weren't panicking, unlike the majority of students. But as they got closer and closer to the hallway, the concentration of students grew. More students piled behind them, and soon enough, all of them were swept up into the crowd.

Dan growled as the person next to him jabbed her elbow into his side. _Doesn't this school run drills for this kind of thing?!_ As another person pushed him from behind, Dan rolled his eyes and became intangible. Most people didn't notice as they didn't try to step through him, just the body parts that would've clipped him went straight through. The hall was filled with so much shouting that his ears were starting to ring. He continued to walk with the mob as the wave of people kept surging forward. As the ghost passed by the window, he looked to see the front courtyard. His eye twitched in irritation as he caught sight of the horde of reporters flocking at the doors to the school.

"The Hell kind of "Level 3 Security" is this?" Dan muttered to himself. No one else in the wave of students even bothered to look out the window to see if the intruders were worth panicking about.

"Dan-san!" The ghost turned around from his place near the window. Behind him, Iida was pressed against the glass, his glasses tilted from their usual position. The teen continued, "Can you get me to Uraraka-san?"

The ghost looked into the crowd to find the girl. She was fighting against the rush of students to get back to them. Dan shrugged and grabbed Iida's hand that was outstretched towards him. The phantom spread his intangibility to his classmate. Iida briefly shivered at the sensation and shouted in shock as his feet started sinking into the ground. Dan rolled his eyes and pulled the other teen towards him, walking them both to Ochaco.

The girl spotted them walking towards her and reached out a hand as she was once again pulled away by the moving students. "Uraraka-san, please make me float!" Iida said as he approached her. Dan made sure that no part of Iida was clipping into another person before letting go of him. Iida's tangibility returned just as the gravity-controlling girl brushed a fingertip against him. The teen braced his legs and easily jumped into the air above the students. Moving his pants above his calves, Iida revealed his engines. Dan's expression grew incredulous at the teen's plan. _Doesn't he know that if he uses his engines, he'll—_

Before Dan could finish his thought, Iida spun wildly forward, propelled by his legs' engines. The ghost slapped a hand against his face. "What an idiot…" He waved his hand at the teen in the air. A faint green glow surrounded the teen's shoes, halting his spinning and allowing him to control his stop against the wall above the exit. No one had noticed the eerie green glow. Or at least, no one around Dan had noticed. A pair of dark green eyes watched as his friend soared above his head.

Iida grabbed the pipe above where he stood on the exit sign. "Everyone, everything's fine!" At the teen's shout, all of the other students suddenly quieted. "It's just the media! There's nothing to panic about. This is U.A., so let us act in a way befitting the best of the best."

After the teen's brief speech, the student body suddenly relaxed, with no one trying to push or shove their way out. As Iida climbed his way down from his position, Ochaco and Izuku regrouped with Dan. A sound of sirens outside alerted the students that the police were finally here. "Oh good, the police are here to get the media to leave!" Ochaco stated relieved.

"Man, it was a good thing Iida was able to stop the crowd's panic," Izuku agreed. The shorter teen looked up at the ghost. "And good job to you two for helping him get up there!"

The girl pumped a fist. "Yeah, he wouldn't have gotten everyone's attention otherwise. His plan was really great!"

Dan rolled his eyes. "I just didn't want to be associated with an idiot when he spun out of control."

A bell suddenly rang throughout the halls, this time being their typical change-of-periods bell. The students started to disperse from the hall, returning to their classrooms. Class 1-A regrouped inside their own room, everyone making their way back to their seats, some more vocal than others about having their lunch cut short by the false alarm. Dan was also slightly disgruntled that he wasn't able to finish those noodles. He would have to grab more in the future. It was unfortunate that the school didn't allow them to bring the bought lunches outside of the lunchroom, making him interact with more of the student population.

At the front stood Izuku and Momo, ready to make class announcements. The green-haired teen looked more nervous by the second. "Come on, class rep. Start," Momo encouraged.

At her prompting, Izuku started to stutter. "N-now, let us decide on the other class officers… But first, can I say something?" The teen finally started to lose some his tension. "I think that Tenya Iida should be the class rep after all! He was able to get everyone's attention in such a cool way and got everyone to stop panicking. I think it would be best for Iida to have this position after his show of leadership."

The rest of the class soon spoke up with their agreements. Dan just sighed as he watched the clock at the front of the class. At least they were eating up class time with this sappiness.

Their scruffy homeroom teacher also caught onto their speeches. "You're all wasting time," Aizawa stated bluntly from his spot within the sleeping bag. "I don't care what you do, just hurry up and do it."

Iida stood up from his seat in the back. "If the class rep has nominated me, then it cannot be helped. From this day forth, I, Tenya Iida, promise to do my best to carry out the duties of class representative."

Dan quietly coughed under his breath. "Nerd."

Even Momo looked exasperated from her spot next to Izuku. "What about me…?"

Aizawa yawned as he stood up from his sleeping bag. He quickly motioned the two in front to return to their seats once more. "For today's hero basic training, it's turned into a class with three instructors, All Might, me, and one other person," he announced.

Dan just looked at the homeroom teacher weirdly. _What's with the sudden change? Does that mean that this lesson wasn't planned?_

Sero piped up next to him, raising his hand. "Excuse me, Aizawa-sensei, but what'll we be doing?"

At the teen's question, Aizawa simply held up an index card. On it, it had the word "Rescue" in bold blue. Their teacher explained, "Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between. It's rescue training."

The classroom burst into chatter as they all discussed their ideas about rescuing. Dan just scowled in his seat. He was usually the one to cause disasters, not be the one to save the humans from them.

"Hey, I'm not done." At their intimidating teacher's statement, the class immediately ceased talking. "You can decide if you want to wear your costume or not this time, but I assume that you'll all be wearing them." The costume packs slid out of the wall. "The training will take place off-campus, so we're taking a bus. That is all. Start getting ready."

The class regrouped in front of the school after quickly changing into their outfits. No one wanted to be late for the bus. As Dan walked out, Iida blew a whistle by the bus. "Class 1-A, please gather round! Form two lines by your student numbers in order to make the boarding go smoothly," he shouted while blowing his whistle.

Dan just rolled his eyes and stepped onto the bus, ignoring Iida entirely. The bespectacled teen just sputtered in shock at the dismissal of his authority. The ghost poked his head back outside of the doors. "It's a shuttle, you can just get on."

At his words, the class turned to look at one another before simply boarding the bus. Instead of a classic school bus, most of the seats lined the bus's walls with some going horizontally in the back. Obviously, Dan grabbed one near the back.

Once all of the students were inside, the vehicle started its way towards their rescue training location. Iida sat dejectedly in front of him, muttering about how foolish he was for not checking what kind of bus it was. The students facing one another in the seats against the bus's walls started a conversation about their Quirks.

Izuku had started panicking as his Quirk was compared to his idol's, the classmates agreeing that the two Quirks were very similar. They soon got into the age-old question about what was the best power.

"But it's nice to have a simple augmenting-type Quirk, you can do lots of flashy stuff," Kirishima argued for Izuku's Quirk. "My Hardening is strong against others, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like much."

"I think it's really cool!" The green-haired teen complimented. "It's a Quirk that can definitely pass as a pro's!"

"A pro's, huh? But you have to think about popularity as a hero, too, you know."

Aoyama piped up from across the two. "My Naval Laser is pro-level in both flashiness and strength."

"But it's not great that it gives you a stomachache," Ashido stated. The pink-skinned girl put a hand on the sparkly blonde's shoulder.

"Well, if you're talking about flashy and strong," Kirishima commented, "It's gotta be Todoroki, Bakugo, and Fenton, right?" At his statement, the two hot-heads looked to each other across the seats, even though Jiro sat in between them. They scoffed at each other, before facing front once more.

"Bakugo's always mad, so he doesn't seem like he'll be popular, though," the frog girl said.

At her comment, Bakugo irrupted into obscenities. Other students easily joined in on the teasing.

While Bakugo explosively responded to their words, Kirishima's statement brought Izuku's attention to Dan, who was watching the teasing with disinterest.

"Ah, Dan-san?" The ghost turned to the green-haired teen. "I've been wondering, what kind of Quirks do your parents' have? They must have pretty powerful Quirks since you have so many aspects to your own."

Shit. Dan didn't think that far ahead to make up some kind of imaginary Quirk for his parents. If he said that they had the same Quirk as him, it would be unbelievable that they wouldn't have been heard about before. Also having such simple Quirks couldn't add up to all of his powers being combined. He didn't have time to think as the rest of the students turned toward him, curious about his answer. He panicked. "Uh… they're Quirkless?"

The group's eyes widened in response. Before they could pepper him with more questions, Aizawa spoke up from his spot at the door. "Quit messing around. We're here."

And sure enough, the bus rolled to stop in front of a large domed building. It was huge, with a white exterior and rectangles as windows to the rounded roof. Everyone exited the bus, interrogation now forgotten as they stood in awe of the gigantic arena. At the entrance to the building, a person in a spacesuit greeted them. The costume was white and puffy, but instead of the typical clear helmet, it was blacked out except for two white spots marking the eyes. A pair of garishly yellow boots were worn. The fingertips of the gloves were covered by hinged caps as well.

The voice sounded through the speaker of the suit. "Everyone, I have been waiting for you."

Izuku gasped next to Dan, muttering to himself. "It's the Space Hero, Thirteen! The gentlemanly hero who has rescued tons of people from disasters!"

"Oh, I love Thirteen!" Ochaco commented on the other side of the ghost.

 _Great… but is Thirteen a dude or a girl?_ Dan wondered to himself.

"Let's go inside without delay," the mysterious hero directed.

The class bowed to the famous rescuer (except for Dan, of course). "Looking forward to working with you!"

As the class stepped inside, different types of areas surrounded them. A demolished city to their left, a mountainous region towards the back, a vast lake to their right. The whole building had numerous different environments to explore.

Thirteen motioned towards each of the areas. "A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, et cetera. It is a training ground that I made with different types of accidents and disasters. It's called the "Unforeseen Simulation Joint", or "USJ" for short."

Aizawa approached the other hero for a brief conversation, quiet enough that Dan couldn't even hear what they were saying.

As their homeroom teacher backed away from Thirteen, he muttered under his breath, "It can't be helped. Shall we begin?"

Thirteen thought for a second. "Let's see… before we begin, let me say one thing… er… or two, or three…" The hero kept mumbling increasing numbers.

Before Dan knew it, the rescue hero was lecturing them about their Quirks. The ghost narrowed his eyes as Thirteen spoke on and on about the potentials of their powers, how with one misstep, they could easily kill. Dan looked to his tightly clenched fist, shaking with rage. He already knew all of this _bullshit_. The phantom had killed a good amount of people with his own hands and now he was getting lectured on it? He carefully unclenched his hand, if anything, this was just another situation that Clockwork was trying to nail into him. He was the meddling time ghost's little pet project.

Soon enough, the self-righteous speech was over with Thirteen bowing to them. "That is all. Thank you for listening." The class all cheered for the hero.

"All right then, first—" But before Aizawa could finish his sentence, a surge of electricity went through the lights. Dan watched as the fountain in the center of the room started to sputter. Suddenly, a purple vortex appeared, flaring out into a shape with two yellow eyes. Their homeroom teacher quickly turned around in shock. "Gather together and don't move! Thirteen, protect the students!" he commanded the class. The ghost tensed as people started to come out of the inky darkness. His eyes widened as the first person to come out of the portal was covered in dismembered hands, all clutching to parts of the man's body. More and more people followed after him, all with different Quirks and outfits.

"Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson has already started?" Kirishima asked.

Dan just lit his fists green, ready to pummel anyone who got close enough.

"Don't move!" Their teacher shouted. Aizawa put on the golden goggles that hid beneath his scarf. "Those are villains."

The class stared in shock at the number of people now standing in the center of the USJ. A monster appeared from the blackness to stand by the villains' leader. Dan's fists just glowed brighter.

—RtH—

"How has Fenton been in his classes?"

"He showed no motivation to become class representative, and he shows no restraint in using his… Quirk."

"I don't see why you two are so suspicious about him. Can't he just not like having a public role?"

"His Quirk doesn't seem strange to you? Not only that, but his actions during the first combat training shows that he's already very familiar with his Quirk."

"And with today's break-in? We haven't had anyone get through the gates in years. For them to suddenly get in this year and the gates to be completely destroyed…"

"All we're saying is: keep an eye on him."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy finals! ;-; The only thing that motivated me to finish this chapter was to procrastinate studying for my finals. Sorry about the long wait, and just for a filler chapter at that. But do not fear, for the next chapters will get Dan some action. Wooo!
> 
> Now to address some reviews: I'm not entirely sure what I want Dan's powers to be just yet (I know, I know, bad planning) but "we'll get there when we get there."
> 
> As for Dan's fight with Todoroki, I kind of wanted Dan's arrogance to shine as he finished the fight. The reason why he didn't go ham on Todoroki was because Dan didn't need to. I think Dan's biggest vice is his arrogance (after all how did his younger self beat him?), so I really wanted to stress it in his fight, showing that he didn't even need to beat Todoroki to a pulp to get Mr. Recommended Student to surrender.
> 
> Also, I think Dan's grin would definitely have an edge over Bakugo's. I mean c'mon, Dan has had ten years of destroying his world. All Might definitely would pick something up that would be different from Bakugo's. Anyways, I think that's it for problems addressed.
> 
> Want sneak peaks and random updates about my life? Check out my Tumblr, [The-Simplest-Writer](http://the-simplest-writer.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!
> 
> The Simplest Writer
> 
> Fun Fact: My three favorite Danny Phantom characters are Dan, Clockwork, and Frostbite. My favorite BnHA characters are Izuku, All Might, and Eraserhead. Wild~
> 
> P.S. I actually posted this chapter a while back on FF.net and completely forgot to post it here, my b. Still be workin on the next one.


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